➤ Tales of Arise: Beyond the Dawn, the review of a DLC out of time 🕹

Beyond the Dawn is a DLC that comes out two years after the base game: is it worth returning to the world of Tales of Arise or is it already a thing of the past?

While fans of the Tales of series eagerly await the announcement of a new chapter, Bandai Namco has seen fit to surprise with a DLC de Tales of Arise...except it's been two years since its release and the question that's been on the minds of everyone who's played it has probably been just one: was it really necessary? We asked ourselves this even before writing this. review of Tales of Arise: Beyond the Dawn, which the developer defines more precisely as "expansion", and there would be a lot to be said about the choice of words.

The last "expansion" we played was Xenoblade Chronicles 3: The Future Regained, which was a semi-masterpiece, so you will understand that expectations were quite high, also considering the not very low price of the package in question. Will Bandai Namco have satisfied you?

Beyond the Dawn there is a DLC

Tales of Arise: Beyond the Dawn, the review of a DLC out of time — The new dungeons are few and not all especially inspired.

Beyond the Dawn takes place a year after the conclusion of Tales of Arise, so Stop reading here if you have not yet completed Alphen and Shionne's adventure because, for analysis purposes, we will have to make some small advances in the narrative. However, if you've already made it to the end credits at least once, you'll know that our heroes have defeated the Great Spirit and accomplished the miraculous feat of merging the worlds of Rena and Dahna, saving them from destruction and ending the discrimination that had torn their people apart. Then our parents returned to their usual lives and Alphen and Shionne even got married: in short, all's well that ends well.

But not at all, because we discovered that our people, after a very brief period of rest, have spent the year searching for the mausoleums that have mysteriously appeared in the new world, and to solve the problems of the inhabitants who still struggle to live in harmony and who above all look at each other with suspicion and distrust.

Beyond the Dawn essentially follows two conjoined but distinct narratives. The main one sees us meet. nazamilNazamil, a girl with the power to become invisible, daughter of a Rhenish lord and a woman from Dahna, is a mixed race and that is why everyone despises her, except obviously our heroes who will take her under their protection. Thus, Tales of Arise returns to the theme of racism, but the main mission of Beyond the Dawn - which Completed in a dozen hours or a little more, it seemed cloying and even a little obvious: it is saved at the end, which is generally appreciable and is preceded by a series of really interesting boss fights.

A plethora of The side quests then clumsily flesh out the background of the new world., updating us on the difficulties of the inhabitants who will ask us for help with the usual things: looking for someone who has disappeared, defeating monsters left and right, collecting collectibles and materials all over the world. They are really banal objectives that extend over a few hours, supported by lengthy dialogues that quickly and didactically resolve the problems that reflect the chaotic and unstable character of the new society, but without ever delving into the issue or explaining it to us. tells how the actions of Alphen and his companions are changing the perception of the inhabitants.

Beyond the Dawn does not further develop the cast that we have come to know in the hours of playing Tales of Arise, in the sense that no new revelations or ideas, but rather focuses each sketch and each conversation on the solid foundation already built in the past. It's a bit like returning to the company of old friends who haven't seen each other in their entire lives and who take the time to tell us what they've been up to all this time. It is clear, however, that this is not enough to support Beyond the Dawn's claim, that more than an "expansion" It seems like a very simple premium DLC. with a series of incomprehensible options at the base: for example, importing the save means starting with some additional resources in the inventory, but the game does not care about the levels reached, the inventory or the Arts unlocked.

Basically we have to start again from a predefined base which, theoretically, should serve to balance the difficulty of the game as if we were starting from scratch, but the reality is that the first challenge is simply to remember the mechanics of the game, the combat system and her CARACTERISTICS. In fact There are tutorials to explain how to play, if it's been too long since the last game, while the fights against common enemies are very easy, only to become more challenging when you face the bosses - who unfortunately are still sponges - and the rare Zugles that appear here and there in the maps.

The main problem with this DLC - which does not seem like an expansion - is that it adds practically nothing to the base game, except for very few not very inspired dungeons, while recycling virtually all other maps, territories traveled, and enemies fought. In the new areas only the main mission takes place, and not very often, while the secondary missions almost always send us back to the regions already visited two years ago.

even the combat system hasn't changed - it works exactly as it did two years ago and honestly we would have appreciated some extra features, maybe some clever modifiers that change the focus of the battles a bit. We had a lot of fun with Tales of Arise's loud, spectacular combat, but Beyond the Dawn offers virtually no stimulation and also displaces the option to partially reset character progress, which is a bit like ruining character engagement. who had reached the highest levels and created the best team in the game.

In conclusion, Beyond Dawn is awasted opportunity Truly inexplicable: too little too late, two years after the game's release, when we would have expected a completely new version of Tales of or maybe even a proper sequel to Tales of Arise, instead of a measured and forgettable DLC that we only recommend a Diehard fans of Alphen, Shionne and company, and in any case with a great discount.